


Third Time's A Charm

by jairyn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Chosen One, Destiny, F/M, Gray Jedi, Jedi, Prophecy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-12 01:53:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15329091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jairyn/pseuds/jairyn
Summary: After the tragic death of Obi wan, Ahsoka, who was trained alongside him under Qui gon Jinn, agrees to take over training the young prodigy, Anakin Skywalker.Basically an AU flip where Ahsoka is the master and Anakin is the padawan.





	Third Time's A Charm

"Tragic this loss is, but what of young Skywalker?" Yoda tapped his gimer stick on the hard marble floor of the council chambers.

"He's had two masters in the short amount of time he's been with us, and yet, he still struggles with his emotions. Training him will be even more of a challenge now," Windu added.

Ahsoka looked from master to master wondering why none of them were speaking up. But more than that, why she was even still here. This sounded like council business and she wasn't even a master yet. But she did feel sorry for the boy. The loss of master Qui-gon had been devastating to her as well. But now Obi wan, his first padawan, was gone too.

All the members of the council were staring at their feet or off in the distance. No one dared to make eye contact with the grandmaster. She narrowed her eyes in confusion and then she felt it. They were afraid. No one wanted to admit it, but they feared Skywalker. He was the Chosen One. That's what her master had claimed, and ultimately, that was why they'd let him into the order at nine years old. His talent was undeniable, as was his power, and as she looked from face to face of all the venerated Jedi masters, she saw nothing but fear. She didn't know much about this prophecy, but to be scared of a boy was ridiculous!

"I will train him." She stepped out of the shadows. They looked up in surprise, clearly having forgotten she was there.

"But you've just barely become a knight yourself. This is a big responsibility." Master Plo set his elbows on his knees and drummed his long fingers.

"I know that, but I believe it's what Master Jinn would have wanted." She weaved her fingers together and held them stiffly in front of her. She wasn't sure if she was truly ready for a padawan, but she'd always been fond of him. Master Kenobi had been a brilliant Jedi, but he'd also been ambitious. He'd hardly seen eye to eye with their master, and he'd always been hard on Anakin. Believing, she supposed, that given his late entry into the Jedi way of life, stricter was better. She disagreed. But at age twenty, she had no power to overrule the way he chose to train his padawan. Now, however, if the council allowed her to train him, she might be able to change that. "He believed in the boy, as do I. Let me help him."

The masters exchanged glances, but no one objected to her request. That was because, she was certain, none of them wanted to train him. "Very well, train him you will," Master Yoda nodded. She bowed to them and left the room. She was nervous, but mostly because she didn't understand their fear. She'd seen Skywalker in action, he was strong, but volatile. He struggled to control his emotions, and he rarely could push them aside in favor of clarity. She had her work cut out for her, but she truly believed it wasn't too late to fix the damage being done to him.

She found him in the courtyard throwing pebbles into the fountain. She hadn't even approached him yet and she could already feel the maelstrom of emotions swirling around in him. He was fifteen; young, restless, wild and in need of an understanding soul. Not someone that will clap their hands and expect him to obey without question. She thought of something she'd overheard master Yoda tell Obi wan years earlier, _he needs a master, not a friend._ She shook her head in frustration. That was where they were wrong. Emotions were part of life, you can't be taught to ignore them, only to control them. But Anakin was a different case entirely, he hadn't been trained since infancy. He had baggage, he had a past he remembered, he'd had his family and friends. As a Jedi, he'd been isolated, treated coldly and taught only denial of everything he'd once known. Most especially, love.

If anything, what he needed _more_ than a master was a friend. She puffed her chest out, took a deep breath and marched towards him. He chucked a particularly large stone at the fountainhead and she waved her hand, stopping it before it made contact. He stared at it in surprise and then turned to see her standing there. "I'm sorry, master!" He bowed, dropping the other pebbles all around him and looking sheepish.

She let the stone she'd been holding with the force drop into the water, splashing them both. "Follow me." She beckoned to him, trying to hide the grin.

He walked behind her, his head bowed. His sorrow and fear permeated the air around him. His pace was slow, as he shuffled his feet along the carpeted hallway. His shoulders were drooped and it seemed as though he carried the weight of the world. _Maybe he did..._

She pushed open the door to one of the practice dojos, and whipped off her robe, tossing it to the side. He was watching her furtively, but she read his confusion. She tossed him a practice saber and picked up two for herself. "I can sense your anxiety and pain, so let's work through it in a more constructive manner." She stopped ten paces in front of him, brought her hands together and bowed to him. He did the same. She raised her practice sabers, twirling them into her reverse grip and crouching low. "Emotions, strong emotions; like grief, anger and heartbreak, are difficult to control, but a master learns not to ignore them, rather to use them. When Master Jinn died, I was overcome with rage. I wanted nothing more than to strike out at the person that had taken him from me. I leapt foolishly into a battle I was ill prepared for and was quickly knocked off my feet and nearly killed." She swung forward wildly to demonstrate. He easily beat back her attacks and knocked one of the sabers out of her hand.

"How do you control it then?" He looked up at her in surprise.

"The force," she breathed, pulling the practice saber back to her hand. "The first and most important step, is to breathe. Take a deep breath and let the force fill you. Close your eyes a moment if you're able, concentrate, _feel..._ " She did so. "When our eyes are closed, we feel that which we can blind ourselves to; strength." Without opening her eyes, she moved forward, twirling and prancing about, making contact with his saber and feeling the way he moved around the room. He ducked under her swing and rolled away, and she flipped backwards landing twenty paces away. She opened her eyes and stood up taller. "The feeling of rage never went away. But I was able to channel it into intention. With the force as my strength, I could do what I needed in clarity." She dropped her weapons and bowed to him.

"Master Kenobi is gone," came his strangled sob. “And so is master Jinn. What is to become of me?" He looked up at her, tears pooling in his blue eyes.

"I volunteered to train you." She patted him softly on the shoulder. "Listen, my padawan. Do not be afraid of your emotions. They are a part of you. You have the potential to become a great Jedi. And I will do all I can to help you reach your potential. But I must ask a favor of you, be open with me. Talk to me. Emotions as strong as yours are not meant to just be bottled up and hidden away. They must come out, either in exercise or communication. Can you do that?"

"I will try, master Tano." He wiped the tears on his sleeve.

"Come on, let's take a little field trip," she grinned at him.

"Lady Tano!" Dex exclaimed, rushing forward to give her a hug.

"Hello, my friend," she smiled at him.

"Is it true?" Sadness flickered in his eyes.

"I'm afraid so." She squeezed one of his hands.

"Tragic, truly tragic," he murmured, blowing his nose into his apron. "Well, what can I get you?" He clapped two of his hands and tried to pull himself together.

"Two blue milk popsicles, if you'd be so kind," she said softly.

"Coming right up!" He disappeared into the kitchen and was back moments later. She paid for the ice cream and handed one to Anakin. They said goodbye to Dex and went to sit on a park bench a block away.

"He was a friend of Master Kenobi's, wasn't he?" She glanced over at him trying to nibble on the end of his popsicle.

"Yes." She licked her own, feeling silly as some of it dribbled down her hand. She tried to nonchalantly lick it off without him noticing. He didn't say anything else as they each worked on their treat, watching people and ships go by. "So," she threw the stick into the nearby trash can. "Anything you're dying to know?"

He looked up at her, his eyes wide. "Yes..." He glanced down at his feet, shifting nervously.

"Well, ask away." She leaned back against the bench, crossing one leg over her other one.

"How do you have white lightsabers?" He forgot about his popsicle as he stared at her curiously. She smiled at his eagerness. "I've heard the rumors of course, but I want to know the real story."

"Rumors, huh?" she smirked. She remembered the padawan rumor mill quite well. They were never right, but the stories were so fantastical it didn't really matter if they were true. In fact, in most cases, the truth paled in comparison. And the younglings would rather never know if the story they told was true.

She told him the story of her fight with Maul, the first Sith Lord to emerge in several hundred years. He watched her in rapt attention, hanging on her every word. She'd picked up his broken saber after cutting him down. Whatever had possessed her to reach in and pull out his crystals, they'd cried out to her. It had been a strange day. She'd curled them in her hands, trying to heal their pain. And then, for no reason whatsoever, she'd put them in her own new lightsabers. Maul had destroyed hers during their fight. The pain of that had forever burned a loss in her memory. It wasn't because the Jedi taught that your lightsaber was your life, but rather it was as though a part of her had died alongside her master. The fear and surprise at her new white blades had marked her somehow.

Rumors flew around her everywhere she went. The first Jedi in five hundred years to kill a Sith Lord. Now she had white lightsabers. She was knighted shortly afterwards, and now, she glanced at him again... she was training the Chosen One. She didn't know what it all meant, but she was suddenly certain it was all connected. "That's amazing!" His whole face lit up as she finished her story. "I didn't know bleeding crystals could be healed!"

"Neither did I," she murmured thoughtfully.

"Master?" He looked down at his hands. "Why did you want to train me? I mean, I know the rest of the order doesn't like me. I've been a burden on them since I got here..."

She reached over and set her hand on his shoulder. "You're not a burden, Anakin. You're special. And they don't know what to do with people that don't fit in their narrow box of expectations. Master Jinn saw something brilliant in you, and I see it too. And it is an honor to carry on his legacy."

"But Obi wan, I mean, Master Kenobi never felt that way, and Master Jinn was his master too."

"Master Kenobi was an amazing Jedi, he exemplified everything the order believed. But he was short sighted just like them too. He didn't see the world the same way Qui-gon did. It didn't mean he was wrong, or that we're right. We're just different, and we have to accept that. To live within the order is to follow their rules, but that doesn't mean we have to lose who we are in the process." She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'll be right beside you. Always."

He smiled for the first time since she'd found him in the courtyard. She'd been right, he needed a friend, someone to believe in. And more than that, someone that believed in him. The fear the others felt of him only ostracized him more. But they were going to get along just fine. She was sure of it. She returned his smile.


End file.
